Spirit of '76

>> undiagnosed infections as far back as 1943. Naming something doesn't
The notion that AIDS existed in 1943 doesn't really work.
The epidemic has had a well-defined, characteristic annual
doubling, in its early phases. Before discovery of the virus,
this is likely to be even far greater, since there is no awareness
of danger, or of prevention methods.
A doubling per year isn't dramatic- it assumes only that
each infected person will infect, on average, one other
person in the course of a year. Obviously, prostitutes
and other categories could infect dozens per WEEK.
The assumption of doubling may not be dramatic, but
the effects and implications certainly are dramatic.
Do the math: If you started with just one infection in 1950,
you would have a full billion cases by 1970.
My conclusions are that 1) the retroactive diagnosis back to
the 1940s is pure propagand, and 2) there must be a
lot of microbiologists who are not very bright, or very good
with numbers, to be able to discern this straightforward fact.
More likely, they are covering their tails, in fear of a revelation
that would create much public resentment of the profession.
Smugness about "Oliver Stone" will hardly fill the void.
Sincerely,
Tom Keske
Boston, Mass.